The Shoeless Cinderella
by Stonehartdreamer27
Summary: This was supposed to be a three pharagraph essay for school, but I got carried away :) This is an Indian version of Cinderella that I have created. I hope you enjoy it!


Cinderleana is a rich maiden in India. She is both beautiful and intellegant and has anything a girl could ever want. She has more sari's than she could ever wear and enough books to last a lifetime. Cinderleana even has a pet turtle named Phillip whom is her fondest companion. She has everything as it would seem, but not a single shoe. And what, you might ask, is girl's life if she has no shoes?

Nothing. Nothing, at all, Cinderleana is convinced. "But mother, can I not have but one pair of shoes?" she would ask every night before bedtime. And everynight her mother would give the same answer.

"No." For Cinderleana had never left the house in all her nineteen years, so for what reason would she even need a pair of shoes?

"Mother, might I please, just have one-" Cinderleana asked again, but her mother's answer was the same as it always had been. In much frustration, Cinderleana decided it was time for her to go off on her own. "I shall go to the United States." she vowed. "Then, I can have as many shoes as I want."

So, in the middle of the night, Cinderleana took her saris, books, and little Phillip and rushed off for the train station. The ground, as she had figured, was much rougher than the smooth floors she was used to. By morning she had cuts, bruises, and many blisters on her feet. Not even close to the station, Cinderleana sat on the side of the road. "This shall never work," she thought to herself. Alone in her thoughts, she noticed a small Bazaar not too far down the road. Limping across the distance she saw the vendor had many shoes on display. Tickled pink she fell in love with the various styles and colors.

"Are there any you fancy?" asked the handsome vendor.

"None, but all of them!" she exclaimed. "But those there, the ones with the heal, I especially like them." The young man smiled at her eagerness and handed her the shoes. "Yes," thought Cinderleana, these were perfect. "I'll take them!" she announced. While searching her purse for the Indian currency, rupee, she realized that in all the ruccus she had forgotten to grab any. "I'm afraid I have nothing to pay you with, sir."

"Not to worry," the man said, "I have seen your belongings and am willing to make a trade. My mother is a lonely woman and longs for adventure. I'm sure those books of yours shall add plenty spice to her life. I'm asking for just one in exchange for your shoes, if you might spare such a gift." Cinderleana's eyes light up, she had more than enough books, surely she could spare one! After giving him his payment, she wished the vendor goodbye and slipped on her beautiful new shoes. Feeling a sense of accomplishment, Cinderleana went along down the road, closer to the station. It wasn't long before Cinderleana had to sit down. On the back of her heals several blisters had developed and her feet began to bleed. As beautiful as they were, her feet seemed better off bare. The vendor, she remembered, had many other styles of shoes. Surely one would have to make the ache in her feet go away. Tracking her way back to the bazaar, she once again found the young man with the shoes.

"Have you come for more?" he asked pleasantly.

"I'm afraid I have grabbed the wrong pair for my sort of journey." she confessed. "Do you have anything more comfortable?" The vendor nodded and grabbed a pair of knitted socks.

"These are the most comfortable I have, miss." Cinderleana pulled the socks over her small, battered feet and sighed in relief.

"These should do. But I'm afraid I still do not have payment, would your mother like another book?" Just as Cinderleana began searching her back the vendor coughed.

"My mother passed away early this morning, miss. I only wish to give her one more gift."

Cinderleana gasped. "I am so sorry." she cried. "Here, take all of them for in memory of her you can live out many adventures and dreams."

The vendor thanked her gratefully. "My sister marries tomorrow. I worry for her happiness, I suppose she'll be overcome with grief."

"Here," said Cinderleana, "take these, too, as a wedding present. They are the finest saris in the country. They are sure to bring a smile to your sister's grief-stricken face."

The vendor now had an armful of books and saris more beatiful than any he'd seen. "You are too kind," he said humbly. "Have a pleasant journey," he told the generous maiden.

Cinderleana now made her way back down the road, thinking about the poor, poor shoe vendor. Such a young man going through so much sorrow. Surely his sister would enjoy her gifts, and perhaps the man would give a sari or two to his wife. That is, if he had one.

Cinderleana couldn't help but think about the man her entire journey down the road. Her mind was so busy, in fact, that it hid the throbbing pain coming from her feet until it became too much to bare. Cinderleana looked down at her tired feet. The knitted, beautiful socks had been rubbed against so much that a big hole had appeared on the bottom of her foot. It was simple what she must do. She must return to the shoe vendor, of course, and get a new pair.

Walking much speedier than before, Cinderleana made it to the bazaar two days after her previous visit. Much to her relief, the same young man was there. "How was your sister's wedding?" she asked him eagerly.

"It was magnificent." he told Cinderleana. "My sister loved the saris you gave her so much she even wore one to her reception!"

Cinderleana smiled a pleasant smile. "I do hope you gave one to your dear wife too, didn't you?"

The man looked down. "I don't have a wife miss. It is just me, alone in my home day after day."

Cinderleana sighed. What a shame, she thought to herself. "You deserve such a fine companion." she told the vendor honestly.

He blushed. "I deserve nothing miss." Realizing the girl had the knitted socks in her hands he remember that he was opperating a business and that this was not a social visit. "What can I help you with?" he asked.

"Only another pair of shoes," she sighed. "I fear I have the worst decision making skills in all the world. If you were me sir, what shoes would you choose for a long journey?"

The young man smiled. "I have just the thing." He disappeared for so long Cinderleana wondered if he'd ever come back. Finally he appeared, holding something behind his back. "These," he said, "are my finest pair of shoes. They shipped in just yesterday and when I saw them I knew they'd be perfect for you. I hid them away hoping you'd come back and here you are! Please, try them on."

Cinderleana gazed in awe at the pair of shoes. They were a pair of slippers, fuzzy on the inside and beautiful on the outside, covered in jewels. They had the appearence of the first pair she wore, but the comfort of the second. However, unnlike the two previous, these were stable. These would definitely take her to the train station. When she gazed up into the vendor's eyes, she smiled warmly. "Thank you so much." she said. Looking into her purse she sighed. No more books. No more saris. All that is left is little Phillip, her dear pet turtle.

"I love Phillip more than anything," she confessed, "but if you'd like him, I know he'd be in good hands. He'd make the perfect companion."

The vendor smiled at the girl with the turtle. "A perfect companion, you say? I'll take him."

"I am forever in your debt," she told the man. "Farewell now, for I must be on my way. Take care of Phillip now,"

"I will." the vendor promised.

Cinderleana took her empty bag and turned her back to the vendor. She was headed toward the United States. To a new life. Looking back one last time, she wished, for once, she might stay in India.

It wasn't long before Cinderleana, in her new pair of shoes, found the station. "One ticket to the nearest airport," she told the lady.

"Your payment?"

Cinderleana reached for her bag, looking for her books to trade or saris to sell. "I, I don't have any." she admitted.

For such an intellectual girl, this aspect of her journey had surely slipped. With no currency and no train ticket Cinderleana decided to go back home. Where else could she go? It seemed to her that her fate lay inside her house. Lonely and shoeless.

"The least I should do is return the vendor these shoes," she told herself. After all, they must be expensive and she wouldn't have a need for them inside her house anyways.

When she came once again to the bazaar she saw the vendor packing up his things for the workday was over. "Sir," she said, "I'm afraid I must give these back to you."

The vendor took the shoes slowly. "Are you sure, miss?"

"I'm positive." Cinderleana told him sadly. "I am sad to part ways with them, for they are the most beautiful things I've ever seen, but I'm going home, I have no real reason to use them anymore."

"So your journey, is it over?" he asked curiously. Cinderleana nodded. "Keep them," he said. "I've never had a customer as lively as you are, miss. I figured you must be meeting a future husband, for as excited as you were, but here you are, once again, with nothing but a generous outlook."

Cinderleana sighed. "Yes, my journey is over." she declared. "If only I had done all of this for the hopes of a husband, but no, my reasoning is much less important."Then, she told him about her wishes to go to America so that she may buy as many shoes as she wanted. "Seems rather foolish now doesn't it?"

The vendor stood beside her. "No, I don't see how a dream as such would be foolish. But don't you know that you do not have to journey to America to buy as many shoes as you wish?"

Cinderleana stood still, the thought had never occured to her. "I suppose I wanted to explore as well." she said biting her lip. Could she really have been so foolish? "I always thought myself so smart," she confided "but now it seems I'm as dumb as ice. You must think me so silly!"

The young man put a hand on her shoulder. "No, miss. Your genorosity and happiness has given me nothing but pleasure. Thanks to you, my mother had at least one more adventure before her passing. Thanks to you, my sister was a vision of beauty on her wedding day. You see, I am merely a lowly merchant who sells footwear, and yet you have made me feel as the son of a king. And let me not forget, little Phillip. We've grown quite fond of each other over the past few days." The man winks. "But as for the perfect companion, I admit he falls short. For his closet friend, well she would be nothing _but_ perfection. Barefoot and all."

Cinderleana blinked. Could it be that this stranger, this man who she has only known for a matter of days, really feels such a way about herself? It is unbelieveable! But is it not true that she could think of nothing else but of the lowly shoe vendor himself these past two days? Yes, she realized, not only did this man feel something close to love for her, but she felt the same for him.

"All I've ever wanted was for one pair of shoes," she told him happily. "But now it seems I have found so much more. I shall wish for nothing more in my entire life."

"Except of course, a few dozen more shoes," the vendor joked.

"Only if I get to see the same man everytime I purchase them." she smiled.

And so it was that Cinderleana and the lowly shoe vendor lived happily ever after.

The End


End file.
